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Thinkport | Folding Sculptures

Watch sculptor Mary Ann Mears demonstrate how she uses scale modeling and other mathematics in creating geometric sculptures in this video from MPT. In the accompanying classroom activity, students design a scale model of a sculpture for the school grounds. They calculate the height and width that the full-size sculpture would be. To get the most from this lesson, students should have some exposure to scale models and be comfortable using a protractor to measure and draw angles. For a longer self-paced student tutorial using this media, see "A Focus on Surface Area and Scale Drawings" on Thinkport from Maryland Public Television.

Materials: Per pair: pencils, several sheets of graph paper, protractor, ruler, calculator; Sculpture Garden worksheetProcedure1. Introduction (10 minutes, whole group) Probe to find out what students know about sculptures, including any large geometric pieces in local public areas. Ask students for ideas on what math might be involved in planning and creating sculptures.

Do you think that the angle measurements in her scale models are the same as the angle measurements in the full-size sculptures? Why or why not?

What does Ms. Mears consider when determining scale factor for her models?

2. Sculpture Garden (15 minutes, individuals or pairs) Distribute materials to pairs and review the worksheet instructions. Explain that students will draw the two-dimensional (2D) front of the sculpture. They will show its height and width but not depth: they will not construct a three-dimensional (3D) sculpture within class time.

As students work, circulate to encourage them to explain to you how they are calculating sculpture dimensions at full size.3. Conclusion (5 minutes, whole group) Ask students to post their sculptures on the wall or place them on a table so that everyone can see them. Then, engage the group in considering properties of scale models versus full-size sculptures, with questions such as:

Would any of our sculptures be taller than this bookcase? How do you know?

Could any cover the window?

This scale model is about half as tall as this other one. Do you think that the full-size sculpture would also be half as tall?

This scale model has a 90° angle. Do you think that the full-size sculpture would also have a 90° angle? Why or why not?

Of all our sculptures, which do you think would use the most material? How do you know?

Wrap up by asking students to reflect on why creating scale models can be useful before building a full-size object.

Activity Extension: Have students create full-size 2D versions of their sculptures using newsprint (with grid squares, if possible). They should take their models to the school grounds and consider how far apart they would need to place them in order for the public to walk between them. As a further extension, they should create a scale model to demonstrate the sculpture placement on school grounds.